Christmas tree stand



Feb. 23, 1954 B. w. ARMITAGE CHRISTMAS TREE STAND Filed Oct. 31, 1950 2u. W a 3 W INVENTIOR. 3/:0/250/2 [JFK/adage AWORA/EY;

Patented Feb. 23, 1954 7 Bronson W. Armitage, of one-half to WillisPortland, reg., assignor A. Forbes, Portland, Oreg.

Application Octob'erBl, 1950, Serial No. 193,261 1 claim. (Cl. 248-47The object of the present invention is to provide means for holding aChristmas tree or related article in upright position, such mean beingof simple construction and easily applied to a tree.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device of theforegoing character which is simple to manufacture and may be stored ina relatively small space. A further object of the present invention isto provide a method of manufacturing a foldable Christmas tree standwhereby the relative parts thereof may be formed in simple steps and byrelatively simple mechanism.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill be more readily apparent from inspection of the followingspecification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, while the features ofnovelty will be more distinctly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a View in tree stand in use;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially along line 2-2 of Fig.1, showing the Christmas tree stand in use;

Fig. 3 is a view, on an enlarged scale, of the Christmas tree stand in apartial state of formation;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the Christmas tree stand in final formand collapsed for shipment or storage;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the joint of the Christmas tree stand inthe collapsed condition; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the Christmas tree stand inoperative condition.

The device preferably comprises a pair of bent straps of equal lengthdesignated by the numerals l0 and II. The straps are nested within eachother and pivoted together at a central point so that they may be foldedfor shipping or storage as seen in Figs. 3 and 4, or may be opened anddisposed at right angles to each other so as to support a tree as seenin Figs. 1 and 2. The strap H is provided with an offset central portionI 2 of sufficient width and depth to receive the central portion of thestrap l0 therein when the straps are disposed at right angles to eachother as seen in Fig. 6, thereby providing means for holding the strapsat right angles to each other when in use. Each of the straps isinitially provided with a reentrant angular tip as indicated at 13 inFig. 1 whereby a pair of sharp points is perspective of the Christmas 2provided on eachtip capable of gouging into and holding the trunk. of a.Christmas tree or the like. When the straps have been formed to thisstate they are placed in superimposed relation and connected together.by a pivot member including a screw point I4, an intermediate retainerabutment [5, a shank portion [6 and a head ll. Various forms ofabutments and heads may be provided, the present disclosure illustratingone form. The screw'and shank portion may be provided on a single memberhaving the abutment thereon, which member after being inserted throughcentral pivot openings in the straps l0 and I I and through a centralopening in a spring 18 tending to hold the members in contactingposition when in crossed relation as seen in Fig. 6, is then welded tothe head I! which may be in the form of a short bar. An alternatedisposition would be the provision of a member including the head H, theshank l6 and screw point 14 which is inserted through the openings inthe spring and the strap and is then subjected to a stamping operationto provide the abutment l5 holding the assembly in assembled relation.The spring may be of any desired shape or type, in the presentdisclosure the same comprising a bowed leaf spring [8 having flanges I9at each tip to engage the sides of the strap l0 and prevent relativerotation of the spring with respect to the strap. The spring isinitially tensioned so as to force the central portion of the strap [0into the recess provided by the offset [2 when the straps are crossed asseen in Figs. 2 and 6.

After the straps are so joined together by the pivot member they arebent together about suitable form members so as to provide reentrantelbows 20, the bending being such as to cause the arm portions to lieparallel to the base portions, with the pointed tips closely adjacenteach other and close to the tip of the screw 14. It will be realizedthat so bending a pair of superimposed straps will cause the elbowportions 20 to be bound together, virtually preventing relative rotationof the arms l0 and I i. In order to provide an efiective Christmas treestand the elbows are loosened and the central portion of the assembly israised with respect to the elbows 20 which would contact the floor, bybending the straps downwardly at the points indicated at 2 I, thuscausing the elbow portions 20 to separate from each other as seen inFig. 4. So bending the straps also causes the tips of the arms to moreclosely approach each other, thus compensating for the reduction inlength of the inner strap l l by reason of the offset [2.

It will be appreciated that the finished article butt of the tree and atthe same time draw the,

butt end downwardly, thus placing tension on the arms and causing thepointed tips to be driven into the tree. If the tree is off balance whenerected the arms may be very easily adjusted by lifting one pointed tipupwardly and driving the opposed pointed tip downwardly. Relativeshifting of the four pointed tips may be rapidly and easily accomplishedto cause the tree to stand upright. As seen in Fig. 2, a light-weighttree will be supported entirely by the rounded elbows 10'. A heaviertree might depress the central portion until the screw head I! restsupon the floor, this action resulting in the pointed tips being morefirmly driven into the trunk of the tree and causing the assembly to becompletely stable regardless of the weight or height of the tree, withinthe limits of the device. It is to be appreciated that variousirregularities in contour of the tree trunk or various differences indiameter thereof within reasonable limits may be accommodated by onesize of stand. It is contemplated that two or three sizes of stands maybe provided to accommodate all sizes of trees normally used forChristmas tree purposes.

Having illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention,it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the inventionpermits of modification in arrangement and detail. I claim as myinvention all such modifications as come within the purview of theappended claim.

I claim:

A Christmas tree stand comprising a pair of elongated spring straps ofsubstantially equal length, pivot means connecting said straps togetherat their centers, each of said straps having its opposed sections beyondsaid pivot means eurvedly bent at an intermediate point so as to providean arm portion overlying the central portion in substantially parallelrelation thereto, the distances from said pivot means to the bends ofone of said straps being lesser than the corresponding d stances of theother and the bends of said one strap being of lesser radius than thoseof the other whereby said straps may be nested one within the other andare freely movable from the nested position to a position at rightangles to each other, the tips of each of said straps being pointedwhereby to grip the trunk of a Christmas tree emplaced therebetween,said pivot means comprising a pointed member capable of being driveninto the butt of the tree, one of said straps having an offset centralportion of substantially the same width as the width of the other ofsaid straps and into which said other strap may fit when said straps areat right angles to each other, and spring means compressed between aportion of said pointed member and saidother strap, said other strapbeing slidably mounted on said pointed member whereby said spring meansmay force-said other strap into said ofiset central portion yieldably tohold saidstraps atright angles to each other. H I

BRONSON W. ARMITAGE,

References Cited in the file of. this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSNumber Name Date 1,226,173 Benjamin May 15, 1917 1,457,820 ClevelandJune 5', 1923 1,575,488 J akobey Mar. 2, 1926 2,030,775 Twiss Feb. 11,1936 2,070,882 Brown Feb. 16, 1937 2,561,693 Frye July 24', 1951 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 949,356 France Aug. 29, 1949

